KROQ's Bean, Mason called 'champs' after kidney transplant

Nov. 15, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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KROQ morning personality Gene "Bean" Baxter, shown earlier this year at Kevin & Bean's April Foolishness comedy event, is recovering from surgery to transplant one of his kidneys to KROQ engineer Scott Mason. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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KROQ/106.7 FM's Gene (Bean) Baxter rests in his room at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles following the removal of one of his kidneys Nov. 13 so it could be donated to KROQ engineer Scott Mason. Bean's wife Donna said both men are "recovering like champs." COURTESY KROQ

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Jimmy Rabbitt, a popular Southern California radio personality on several stations in the '60s and '70s, poses with The Beach Boys. He is heard 3-6 p.m. Saturdays on low-power FM classic rock KOCI/101.5 FM in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, He also posts current news on his Facebook page.

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"SiriusXM's Town Hall with Willie Nelson" will air live on Willie Nelson's "Willie's Roadhouse," channel 56, at 11 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday (Nov. 20). It will be rebroadcast on "Willie's Roadhouse" and "Outlaw Country," channel 60, throughout the week. For rebroadcast times, visit www.siriusxm.com/townhall. JASON KEMPIN, GETTY IMAGES

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Lucille Bliss, a voiceover artist for more than 60 years, died Nov. 8 in Costa Mesa at age 96. Credits ranged from radio's Edgar Bergen show to TV's "The Smurfs" and "Crusader Rabbit."

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Lucille Bliss voiced the star of the TV animated series "Crusader Rabbit." She was working up to the time of her death at age 96 in Costa Mesa.

KROQ morning personality Gene "Bean" Baxter, shown earlier this year at Kevin & Bean's April Foolishness comedy event, is recovering from surgery to transplant one of his kidneys to KROQ engineer Scott Mason.ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

KROQ/106.7 FM morning personality Gene (Bean) Baxter and KROQ engineer Scott Mason are recovering from successful surgery to transplant one of Bean's kidneys to Mason. "Both recovering like champs," Bean's wife Donna said of the Cedars-Sinai surgeries Nov. 13. No word yet when Bean plans to return to the Kevin and Bean show.

"Bean and Scott shared a beautiful moment today as Bean's kidney became Scott's. Both recovering like champs," says Bean's amazing wife Donna from his bedside. Upon reflection, Donna joked, there's now a "possibility that Scott may start obsessing on Taylor Swift, the Wreck (of the Edmund Fitzgerald) and U.S. Post Office."

The posting continued, "Bean had kept the possibility of surgery under wraps for weeks 'til he was certain that Mason, KROQ's chief of operations for nearly three decades, would be able to accept Bean's kidney. Once he was reasonably confident that doctors could make the transplant work, he divulged that he would be giving the gift of life to one of our best friends here at KROQ.

"If you'd like to share your wishes to Bean or Scott, please do so in the form of a blood donation to Cedars-Sinai (for those in LA or OC), or the Red Cross, so you too can give the gift of life," according to the posting.

More information: http://kroq.cbslocal.com/2012/11/01/kroqs-bean-on-why-i-am-giving-up-a-kidney

Before Bean's surgery, he addressed his decision to donate a kidney to Scott.

"This decision was a no-brainer for me. The disruption in my life should be minimal. There will be some discomfort for a few weeks after surgery but after that my life should go on almost exactly as before."

JIMMY RABBITT

Reader Mike Wester of Mission Viejo asks whatever happened to Jimmy Rabbitt. "He was in L.A. radio during the '60s and '70', was on several stations, including KMET, KROQ, and even country (at the time) KGBS. He also had a band called Rabbitt and Renegade, whom I saw both at the Palamino and at the Sweetwater club in Redondo Beach."

Rabbitt is heard 3-6 p.m. Saturdays on low-power FM classic rock KOCI/101.5 FM in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. For more information, go to his Facebook page or www.therabbittreport.com. Also visit www.kociradio.com.

WILLIE NELSON SPECIAL

"SiriusXM's Town Hall with Willie Nelson" will air live on Willie Nelson's "Willie's Roadhouse," channel 56, at 11 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday (Nov. 20). It will be rebroadcast on "Willie's Roadhouse"and "Outlaw Country," channel 60, throughout the week. For rebroadcast times, visit www.siriusxm.com/townhall.

PLAYLIST 92.7 FM

Are the days of the "Playlist" coming to an end? Reports have circulated that Amaturo Broadcast Group has sold all of its radio stations. That would include the former KNJO in Thousand Oaks, as well as the stations in Fountain Valley and Temecula (all 92.7 FM).

The stations, dubbed Playlist 92.7 FM, have studios in Lake Forest. General Manager Matthew Rodriguez would only say, "There are negotiations in play."

RADIO REWIND

Reader Steve Thompson wrote a popular "Radio Rewind" feature on the website LARadio.com. That site has been shut down by webmaster Don Barrett, but Thompson's weekly trivia will appear here, space permitting. Let me know what you think of it.

The week of Nov. 18:

Nov. 18, 1994: KMGX/94.3 FM in San Fernando dropped soft rock and became KYKF, simulcasting the country format of KIKF/94.3 FM in Garden Grove. The stations were known as "country "KIK-FM."

Nov. 20, 1995: Radio stations begin playing a new Beatles song, "Free As A Bird." Originally a John Lennon demo from 1977, the song featured new vocals and instrumentation by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr and had aired the previous night on part 1 the three-part "Beatles Anthology" on ABC-TV.

Nov. 21, 1944: "The Roy Rogers Show" debuted on Mutual Radio. Rogers, who had been making western movies since 1938, would eventually marry his radio co-star, Dale Evans.

Nov. 22, 1955: RCA signed Elvis Presley to a recording contract after buying out his contract from Sun Records. Elvis then bought a pink Cadillac for his mother. (Hot 92.3 FM's Art Laboe was the first locally to play rock 'n' roll on the West Coast).

Nov. 24, 1968: Apple released the Beatles' self-titled double album, popularly called "The White Album." (Hear it Sunday on KLOS/95.5 FM's "Breakfast with the Beatles.")

NAMES IN NEWS

KLOS/95.5 FM's afternoon personality Joe Benson was scheduled to be in Orange Saturday (Nov. 17) for the annual "KLOS Stuff A Truck Food Drive" to help the Salvation Army and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. The location is Stater Brothers at 1800 East Collins Ave. (at Tustin) in Orange. He is scheduled to be there 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

James Harness (a.k.a. Skortch) is the new imaging director for KIIS/102.7 FM and KYSR/98.7 FM. The announcement said, "James Harness was fascinated with unique sounds at an early age, ran a successful DJ business in high school and hosted a radio show in college. His first big break in radio came in 1997 at KROQ in Los Angeles, where he handled production for the morning show, and eventually worked his way up to imaging director of the station. In 2005, he moved on to stations' 92-3 KROCK, 923 NOW and 101.7 WFNX in Boston. "

PASSING PARADE

You may not know the name Lucille Bliss, but the talented radio, TV and film actress had more than 60 years of credits. She died Nov. 8 at age 96 in Costa Mesa. You may not remember her Airborne radio commercials in 2004, but if you love animation, you would have appreciated her as the voice of the cartoon series star "Crusader Rabbitt" or as the voice of Smurfette in "The Smurfs" TV series. She was also the voice of Charlie McCarthy's sweetheart on the Edgar Bergen radio show. To know more about her, visit www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/lucille-bliss.

PERSONAL NOTE

With Thanksgiving a few days away, I want to give my personal thanks to readers who write and say they enjoy the variety of topics in the column each week. I also send my appreciation to everyone who has wished me well with kind words and prayers in my treatments for cancer. There are good days and bad days, but I remain positive and generally feel well. May we all enjoy the blessings of the upcoming holidays.

Bill Dudley will be at Spaghettini in Seal Beach Sunday (Nov. 18) for KTWV/94.7 FM's "Wave" Sunday Brunch. KTWV is also at The Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel. More info on the OC brunch: www.spaghettini.com.

Orange County chef Jamie Gwen is on KFWB/980 AM 8-10 a.m. Sundays. This week (Nov. 18), she will announce the winner of the best recipe for stuffing your Thanksgiving turkey. More info: www.chefjamie.com.

Jeff Gehringer reviews the career of Artie Shaw on "Jazz at the Spa" at 4 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 18) on KSPA/1510 AM. Also check out Manny Pacheco's "Forgotten Hollywood" weekly at 3 p.m. Saturdays. More information: www.forgottenhollywood.com, www.thesparadio.com.

Mari Frank hosts two Monday morning shows on Irvine-based KUCI/889.9 FM starting at 8 a.m. One is "Privacy Policy" and is followed by "Prescriptions for Healing Conflict." "Private Policy" guests Monday (Nov. 19) are Patrick Florer and Heather Goodnight on the topic of "risk security." More information: Mari@MariFrank.com.

John and Larry Gassman's "Same Time Same Station" salutes announcer Harlan Wilcox. Shows feature The Andrew Sisters, Abbott and Costello, and "Nero Wolfe." It streams on demand beginning every Sunday at Jerry Haendiges's OTR site www.vintageradioplace.com. It is available from Radio Out Of The Past beginning Monday or Tuesday. Download it at www.radiooutofthepast.org.

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